OFF THE TRACK

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3262, 12 May 1943, Page 6

OFF THE TRACK

STRANGE EXPERIENCES DEADLY STINGING TREE Military parties find some strange experiences during patrols in the far north of Australia. ,

One party, swimming in the nude, accepted the invitation of a native to go fishing in his canoe. Half a mile out he pulled aside a rug in the bottom of the boat and revealed his wife. Seeing the embarrassment of his guests, he sought to put them more at ease by taking off his own trousers.

Another party found, some stone-age blacks who knew nothing about the war, but gave them an antidote to the deadly stinging tree whose poisonous hairs drive horses mad and inflict injuries to humans which persist for six months. All they have to do, they said, was to rub on the wounds the leaves of the ginger tree which usually grew alongside the stinging tree.

Then there was the case of the bewildered American. This officer, detailed for special duty, was told to go to A, take a taxi from there to B and then stay alt the best hotel until further instructions reached him. He got to A and found a ramshackle jetty surrounded by wilderness and was wondering how he was to get to B. The party told him the only inhabitants of B —7o miles away—were four aged prospectors who lived in tiny shacks. He decided to return to check up.